Heretofore, fully automatic roll winding mechanisms, sometimes known as rewinders and as exemplified in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,930,620, to Taitel, are relatively expensive and have certain operational limitations. One such limitations of rewinders having more than two core supporting spindles is that the maximum diametral size of the roller is restricted by the space between the stations on the turntable or turret which is, in turn, limited by the maximum practical diameter of the turret. Another limitation is that the time for achieving adhesion of the web to the core is limited and, therefore, for webs of coarse woven material insufficient time is available to effect attachment of the web to a new core. Similarly, attachment of webs of a material having a low coefficient of friction, as for example, a film of polytetrafluoroethylene, to new cores are not readily achieved automatically. Also, in connection with the transfer of the running web of coarse woven or low coefficient of friction material from a completed roll to a new core, the aforesaid automatic turret type rewinders, because of the time restrictions imposed by indexing from one station to another, have the further limitation of the size splicing adhesive tape which can be employed to attach the severed web to the web leader and, thus, are not readily capable of effecting the transfer and winding of rolls of coarse or low coefficient friction material. A still further limitation is that the attachment of a web of relatively stiff or inflexible material is not readily achievable automatically on the relatively small diameter cores employed in some currently known turret rewinders. The aforesaid limitations are eliminated by the semi-automatic roll winding machine of this invention.
It has also been found that existing splicing devices, as for example the types exemplified in the U.S. patents to Taitel et al. No. 3,939,032 and Ryan et al. No. 4,157,934, are not suitable for roll winding machines, therein rolls are wound from a source of continuously running or feeding web without interruption of such web feed, because clamping and cutting of the web on the feeding side of the clamp leaves the web with a free end out of control. Accordingly, the present invention provides a roll winding machine having a splicing device in which the web is clamped so that the feeding web end portion remains clamped after the web is cut and until the splice is completed.
It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a roll winding machine capable of receiving a continuously feeding web and to transfer the web from a completed roll to a new roll core without interruption of the web feed.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a roll winding machine which is capable of effecting the transfer of webs of a wide variety of types and material from a completely wound roll to a new roll core without interruption of web feed.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a roll winding machine which is capable of use with a wide range of web feeding speeds.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a roll winding machine which is capable of winding web rolls of larger size, as well as being simpler and less expensive, than heretofore known turret rewinders.